Aircraft wing with sequentially-timed bellows assembly for optimizing boundary layer control

ABSTRACT

Methods for optimizing Boundary Layer Control (BLC) systems and related systems (e.g. a Laminar Flow Control (LFC) system or systems, a Static Pressure Thrust (SPT) system or systems, a Boundary Layer Ingestion (BLI)/Wake Immersed Propulsion (WIP) system or systems, and/or low-dissipation BLC fluid-movement system or systems) to operate in concert with each other and a bellows air-moving system are disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent application is a continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 16/898,939, filed Jun. 11, 2020, which claims benefit andpriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/860,040, filedJun. 11, 2019, which is hereby incorporated by reference into thepresent disclosure.

FIELD

Exemplary embodiments relate generally to Boundary Layer Control (BLC)systems, suction-stabilized Laminar Flow Control (LFC) systems, StaticPressure Thrust (SPT) systems, low-dissipation BLC fluid-movementmechanisms, Boundary Layer Ingestion (BLI)/Wake Immersed Propulsion(WIP) systems and to methods for combining such advances into a systemwith greater performance than systems without these inventions. LFC,SPT, WIP and a Bellows-type of air moving mechanism are concepts thatare known to persons skilled in those arts.

BACKGROUND

The general concept of Boundary Layer Control (BLC) is known in thefluid mechanics and aircraft design arts and can be used to achieveincreased performance. Boundary Layer Control can be used to maintain afluid dynamic phenomenon called Laminar Flow. Laminar flow boundarylayers create much lower drag than turbulent flow boundary layers. Thisis well known in the arts of fluid mechanics and aircraft design. Thesubject of Boundary Layer Control suction for active Laminar FlowControl (LFC) is discussed in this overview: Braslow, Albert L., “AHistory of Suction-Type Laminar-Flow Control with Emphasis on FlightResearch,” Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 13, 1999, the contentsof which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.Additional documentation concerning the Boundary Layer Control can befound in Thwaites, Brian, Incompressible Aerodynamics,ISBN-10:0486654656, the contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety. Further, U.S. Patent Publication No.20080023590 shows BLC and suction-stabilized laminar flow control and ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Similarly, U.S. Pat.Nos. 2,833,492 and 2,646,945 show related art and are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety. Static Pressure Thrust(SPT) is a fluid-dynamic phenomenon that is known in the fluid dynamicarts. Discussion & documentation concerning SPT can be found inGoldschmied, F. R., FUSELAGE SELF-PROPULSION BY STATIC-PRESSURE THRUST:WIND-TUNNEL VERIFICATION, AIAA paper #87-2935, U.S. Pat. No. 8,113,466B2and Carmichael, B, Personal Aircraft Drag Reduction, 1995, Published bythe author, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by referencein their entirety. Aerodynamic flows are described in Power Balance inAerodynamic Flows by Drela, Mark. AIAA Journal, vol. 47, issue 7, pp.1761-1771, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Wake Immersed Propulsion (WIP) is also known in the vehicle design arts.The vast majority of surface shipping motor vessels were designed sothat during normal operation the main propellers are immersed in thewake of the ship. The increase in propulsive efficiency of thisconfiguration over designs without WIP is well documented andunderstood.

BLC, LFC and related specialties can be grouped under the category of“open-thermodynamic” (open-thermo) aircraft design, where energy use andexternal (e.g.; airframe) geometry are designed around each other fromthe earliest stages of design. For comparison, a ‘closed-thermo’ designis what typical airliner designs employ, the airframe and power use aremostly independent of each other, not optimized to exploit the synergybetween the two. This open-thermo design philosophy has beeninvestigated in multiple research and development programs, which havedelivered meaningful benefits from a fluid-dynamics perspective. Some ofthese designs have suffered clogging problems from debris, dust, dirt,etc. which causes operational expenses to increase due to frequentcleaning requirements.

Despite significant benefits, these increased costs have limited thebenefit of open-thermo designs to ‘real-world’ operation like airlineservice to a prohibitive degree. If the benefits of open-thermo designscan be brought into ‘real-world’ operations, significant increases inperformance can be delivered to operators and their customers.Additionally, if the operating energy demands of these systems can befurther reduced, significant increases in performance can be created.Accordingly, there is a clearly felt need in the art for a system andmethod for combining BLC, e.g. LFC, BLIMP & SPT systems, to work inconcert with each other, which allows resulting vehicles to delivergreater performance (e.g. efficiency) than vehicles designed aroundlegacy propulsion. If a way that keeps related cleaning and operationalcosts low enough to not outweigh the benefits can be optimized, thesebenefits can be brought to ‘real-world’ air travel service.

SUMMARY

Bellows-powered BLC, for reduced dissipation in the BLC system may beimplemented in an exemplary embodiment. Bellows and similar fluid-movingmechanisms are known to persons skilled in the art of building suchmechanisms as an accordion musical instrument, designing an air-movementmechanism for use in the workshop of a blacksmith or other similarmechanisms. Boundary Layer Control (BLC), is likewise known in the artsof fluid mechanics and aircraft design.

An exemplary embodiment combines these two previously independentspecialties and in doing so, creates a significant leap in theperformance (e.g. efficiency) of aircraft designed around thissynergistic interaction of BLC and improved BLC air management system.

An exemplary bellows-based BLC air management system may provide thesame pressure differential and flow-rate of traditional compressor orfan-based BLC air moving systems, with lower dissipation or energyconsumption (frequently called ‘drag’) and, therefore, betterperformance.

For an aircraft designed to exploit BLC and suction-stabilized LaminarFlow, great leaps in performance can be created. When comparing amodified airfoil to a natural laminar flow airfoil the effective uppersurface drag coefficient is about 29% that of an upper surface dragcoefficient of the best natural laminar flow section measured to date.The power consumption of the resulting aircraft component is found “tobe wake drag 28% and suction drag 72%,” (Carmichael, B, PersonalAircraft Drag Reduction, Third Edition, page 97.)

For an exemplary aircraft designed to exploit suction-stabilized LaminarFlow and the improved BLC air movement mechanism of an exemplary bellowsarchitecture, a significant reduction in power required for flight, inaddition to the power savings due to Laminar Flow, can be created byleveraging the reduced dissipation of a bellows-based BLC air movingmechanism.

This enables a significant reduction in total power required foraircraft designed and built around this propulsion architecture. As anexample, a Solar powered High Altitude Long Endurance aircraft can beoptimized to have a wing design with a significantly greater chordlength than that of legacy state-of-the-art designs like those ofGoogle/Titan Aerospace, the Facebook ‘Aquila’, the Boeing Odysseus, theAirbus Zephyr, and others, without the unacceptably large energyconsumption that traditional aircraft architectures would create. Thisallows far greater surface area without unacceptably large areas ofturbulent flow, which in turn allows for significantly greaterperformance.

This LFC, BLC, and bellows architecture, in combination with externaland internal aerodynamic geometries optimized to exploit Static PressureThrust can create still-better performance than aircraft designs thatsimply combine Laminar Flow, stabilized by BLC with reduced dissipationof a bellows air-mover.

The addition of SPT to an exemplary architecture allows performancegreater than what is predicted. In FIG. 55 , Carmichael, B, PersonalAircraft Drag Reduction, Page 74, for each thickness of airfoil designthe chart shows minimum drag values that increase with increasingReynolds Numbers. This is correct for legacy airfoil designs, as abovethis Reynolds Number value, the BLC system begins to create pressuredrag on the aft-facing convex curve. Adding SPT to such an airfoil mayallow greater efficiency even for designs (airfoils, aircraft fuselages,etc.) of significantly greater length that what can be optimized usinglegacy technology. This is because even for a body of outrageously longlength, the combination of convex geometry, BLC and concave geometrythat make up a SPT assembly will prevent pressure drag from causinginefficiency, which allows the system to be fully optimized.

Similarly, the above combination of BLC plus bellows architecture plusSPT, can be improved by incorporating the concept of Wake ImmersedPropulsion (WIP). An exemplary LFC+BLC+bellows architecture+SPT+WakeImmersed Propulsion, can create even-better performance (e.g.efficiency) than an LFC+BLC+bellows architecture.

An exemplary embodiment may implement Oversized BLC Ducting. The natureof boundary layers in pipes and on the internal walls of ducts is knownin the arts of fluid mechanics. For example, increasing the size of aduct will reduce the energy losses in this boundary layer and decreasethe speed of the air moving through the duct, if all else is kept equal.

By optimizing the fluid-flow properties inside the ducting of a BLCsystem in this way, the optimization of these oversized BLC ducts incombination with external and internal aerodynamic geometries optimizedfor use with Boundary Layer Control to exploit Static Pressure Thrustcan create a system with greater performance (e.g. lower energyconsumption) that that of a legacy system.

As another example, VTOL transports such as the Uber eCRM-series ofaircraft can be made to be wider, for increased passenger comfort, andmore energy efficient thanks to this combination of Oversized internalBLC ducting and SPT. This combination creates performance not possiblefrom legacy propulsion technologies.

By combining LFC+SPT+Oversized internal ducting, still-betterperformance (e.g. efficiency) can be created by optimizing the internalaerodynamics, the resulting body will be wider than anotherwise-optimized aerodynamic body, but exploiting SPT allows thisconfiguration to be more efficient than legacy designs, which, in turn,allows for still-larger internal ducting with less internal losses.

Efficiency can also be improved by combining LFC+SPT+Oversized internalducting+Wake Immersed Propulsion, even-better performance (e.g.efficiency) than LFC+SPT+Oversized internal ducting can be created.

Laminar Cascade Propulsion may be combined with SPT and/or BLIMP. Anexemplary embodiment provides a system and method for optimizing thecombination of BLC, e.g. LFC, SPT and/or BLIMP systems, to work inconcert with the geometry of the vehicle. For example, this represents apropulsion paradigm that can enable aircraft of far greater performancethan what is possible using legacy propulsion.

The laws of fluid mechanics present meaningful limitations andconstraints. For example, the nature of laminar boundary layers isclosely tied to the Reynolds number of that flow. Laminar flow is onlypossible at relatively low Reynolds numbers. For a typical transportaircraft, the combination of reference length and airspeed createReynolds numbers high enough that laminar flow is not possible. Incontrast to this, an exemplary embodiment presents a way to reset thelocal Reynolds number, therefore disconnecting it from the length of thebody so that the resulting aircraft can be surrounded by laminar floweven in areas where the length of the body and the airspeed wouldotherwise prevent laminar flow. This is possible because the BLC inletserves to reset the local Reynolds number so that the laws of fluidmechanics remain unbroken and yet are no longer so limiting, due to theability of designers to use this to their advantage. The combination ofLFC, SPT, and/or WIP installations being designed in series, ordaisy-chained, or in a cascade arrangement in this manner can be calledLaminar Cascade Propulsion.

Accordingly, an exemplary embodiment may provide a system and method forcombining this Laminar Cascade Propulsion (LCP) with Static PressureThrust that will allow the aircraft designed around this propulsionconcept to deliver performance greater than what is possible from legacypropulsion.

The concept of Laminar Flow is known in the arts of fluid mechanics andaircraft design. In Personal Aircraft Drag Reduction, Third Edition,Bruce Carmichael writes about a series or ‘cascade’ of BLC inletscombined with surface geometry optimized to create and maintain laminarflow on the wings of an F-94 Jet aircraft.

By combining these benefits with external and internal aerodynamicgeometries optimized for use with Boundary Layer Control to exploitStatic Pressure Thrust increased performance is enabled.

By further combining the above in addition to Wake Immersed Propulsion,still-greater advances in aircraft performance are enabled.

An exemplary embodiment may implement Imperfection Tolerance. The recipefor creating and maintaining laminar flow across different structures iswell known to those skilled in the aircraft design arts, for example.The cleanliness needed of these structures is based on the behavior oflaminar flow across a flat plate while the outer surface of most aerostructures is convex, which accelerates the local airflow and creates afavorable pressure gradient.

Designers can exploit this favorable pressure gradient, e.g., optimizethe nature of the convex-curved fuselage outer skin, and therefore thepressure gradient across that structure, to tolerate surfaceimperfections that would prevent laminar flow on a flat plate, so flowtargets are met on the convex aero structure.

If a flat plate, which has relatively little favorable pressuregradient, requires a certain amount of perfection, then a convex-curvedfuselage, which can be engineered to have a sufficiently favorablepressure gradient would require less perfection thanks to that favorablepressure gradient.

This allows a vehicle outer structure with real imperfections, e.g.enough imperfections to prevent laminar flow on a flat plate, to createand maintain laminar flow in real-world operations. This enables arelatively fast and imperfect cleaning event to suffice in achievinglaminar airflow targets in day-to-day revenue air transport service,which allows for acceptably short turn-around times for commercialtransport operations like an urban air taxi or airline service.

This becomes increasingly attractive to aircraft designers when combinedwith geometries optimized for Static Pressure Thrust, which, by theirnature are more convex than those not optimized for SPT.

These and additional objects, advantages, features and benefits of thepresent inventions will become apparent from the following disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Advantages of embodiments of the present invention will be apparent fromthe following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments thereof,which description should be considered in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which like numerals indicate like elements, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram representing a side view look at a bodydesigned to benefit from this bellows-based BLC air moving mechanism.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram representing a side view look at a bodydesigned to benefit from a bellows-based BLC air moving mechanism.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram representing a top-down look at a bodydesigned to benefit from a bellows-based BLC architecture.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram representing a cross-section of a bodydesigned to benefit from increased imperfection tolerance, showing areaof favorable pressure gradient.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram representing a top-down look at a bodydesigned to benefit from Laminar Cascade Propulsion

FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram representing a close-up view of theexternal surface of a body designed to benefit from Laminar CascadePropulsion.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary diagram representing an isometric perspective ofa legacy Solar powered High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) aircraft onthe left side and the aircraft on the right side is a much larger SolarHALE aircraft which has been designed to exploit Laminar CascadePropulsion, Static Pressure Thrust, the low-dissipation BLCfluid-movement mechanism disclosed here and related advances.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the invention are disclosed in the following description andrelated drawings directed to specific embodiments of the invention.Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the spiritor the scope of the invention. Additionally, well-known elements ofexemplary embodiments of the invention will not be described in detailor will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of theinvention. Further, to facilitate an understanding of the description,discussion of several terms used herein follows.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments. Likewise, the term “embodiments ofthe invention” does not require that all embodiments of the inventioninclude the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram representing a side look at a bodydesigned to benefit from this bellows-based BLC air moving mechanismwith bellows mechanism 20, shown expanding. This exemplary embodimentshows outer wing skin surface 10, BLC inlet 50, area of below-ambientpressure 100 (in this case being maintained by bellows mechanism 20,which is contracting elsewhere not shown), bellows mechanism 20, whichis shown expanding, and Wake Immersed Propulsion duct 30. This WIPexhaust duct 30, is shown still venting BLC air, also known as thecollected & accelerated local wake, overboard out the exhaust duct 30,due to shared plenums & valves of other bellows mechanisms, which arenot shown.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram representing a side view look at a bodydesigned to benefit from an exemplary bellows-based BLC air movingmechanism with bellows mechanism 20, shown contracting. These assembliescan be optimized to operate in concert with each other, so that thecombined systematic, sequentially-operating collection of componentscreate and maintain the pressure differential and air flow rate requiredto achieve the overall goals (e.g., increased areas of laminar flow,areas of Static Pressure Thrust, etc.). This exemplary embodiment showsouter wing skin surface 10, BLC inlet 50, area of below-ambient pressure100 (in this case being maintained by bellows mechanism 20, which iscontracting as shown), bellows mechanism 20, which is shown contracting,and WIP exhaust duct 30. This WIP exhaust duct 30, can vent BLC air,also known as the collected & accelerated local wake, overboard out ofthe exhaust duct 30, across the trailing edge of the wing due to sharedplenums & valves of other bellows mechanisms, which are not shown.

These assemblies can be optimized to operate in concert with each other,so that the combined systematic, sequentially-operating collection ofcomponents create and maintain the pressure differential and air flowrate required to achieve the overall goals (e.g., increased areas oflaminar flow, areas of Static Pressure Thrust, etc.).

FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram representing a top-down look at a bodydesigned to benefit from an exemplary bellows-based BLC architectureusing primary internal bellows assembly 40, and secondary internalbellows assembly 43. This exemplary embodiment shows primary internalbellows assembly 40, and secondary internal bellows assembly 43.

FIG. 3 shows outer wing skin 10, Primary Bellows Mechanism 40, andSecondary Bellows Mechanism 43. Primary mechanism 40, and Secondarymechanism 43, and the like may be optimized to operate in concert witheach other, so that the combined systematic, sequentially-operatingcollection of components create and maintain the pressure differentialand air flow rate required to achieve the overall goals (e.g., increasedareas of laminar flow, areas of Static Pressure Thrust, etc.).

These mechanisms and the like can be optimized to operate in concertwith each other, so that the combined systematic, sequentially-operatingcollection of components create and maintain the pressure differentialand air flow rate required to achieve the system design goals (e.g.,increased areas of laminar flow, areas of Static Pressure Thrust, etc.).

In one exemplary embodiment, the BLC apparatus may be switched off oreven operated with flow in the opposite direction from normal as a wayto manage aircraft energy state. For example, if the aircraft needed tomake an emergency descent, turning off the BLC system will greatlyincrease drag and will increase descent rate accordingly.

Referring now to FIG. 4 , FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram representing across-section of a body designed to benefit from increased imperfectiontolerance, showing area of favorable pressure gradient 60. By creating abody that is wider than typical aerodynamic bodies, the local pressuregradient is made more favorable to laminar flow and flowrelaminarization. This geometry will allow for surface roughness,waviness, debris contamination and other surface imperfections thatwould prevent laminar flow across body geometry without such a favorablepressure gradient.

In one exemplary embodiment, an air taxi aircraft can be flown withlaminar boundary layers covering its external geometry despite havingsurface imperfections (caused by bugs, debris, gaps, deformities,defects, etc.) that would prevent laminar flow on bodies without such afavorable pressure gradient.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram representing atop-down look at a body designed to benefit from Laminar CascadePropulsion. In this example the body can be an airfoil or fuselage orother body designed for aerodynamic efficiency. The airflow is from leftto right and the BLC inlet or inlets 4, are located near an areadesigned for laminar flow 8. The series, daisy chain or cascade oflaminar flow areas 8, can be placed in multiple locations over the bodyso that the maximum possible surface area of that body can be covered bylaminar flow.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram representing a close-up view of anexternal surface of a body designed to benefit from Laminar CascadePropulsion (LCP). In this example the body can be an airfoil, fuselage,or other body designed for aerodynamic efficiency. As with FIG. 5 , theairflow is from left to right and the BLC inlet(s) 4, are positioned toaid in the creation and maintenance of laminar flow over the externalsurface areas engineered for laminar flow 8.

The length of laminar flow area 8, will be limited by the local Reynoldsnumber, which will relate to the transition of the flow from laminar toturbulent just as it does on non-BLC designs. This fact does not limitthe percentage of the body that can be covered by laminar flow, theReynolds number limit only limits the length of the area engineered tocreate and maintain laminar flow 8. For example, even an aircraftfuselage or wing chord of absurdly long length can be made to create andmaintain laminar flow over a large majority of its external surfacearea, as long as the designers limit the length of the area engineeredto create and maintain laminar flow 8, to respect the limiting localReynolds number. The series, daisy chain or cascade of BLC inlet(s) 4,and laminar flow area(s) 8, work together to extend the benefits oflaminar flow to bodies of functionally unlimited length.

By installing LCP systems in this way and optimizing the local geometryto benefit from the series, daisy chain or cascade of LFC systems, theentire combination of LFC systems and related external geometry can beoptimized for any particular operational goal.

The number of LFC systems in the cascade will depend on the goals of thedesigner. For a Solar powered High-Altitude Long Endurancetelecommunications aircraft, the goal might be 100% of the airframecovered in Laminar flow maintained by this LFC cascade. Conversely, someairliner designs are unlikely to enjoy Laminar flow over the cockpitwindows and other airframe imperfections, so those designs may not beable to have 100% laminar flow. Those designs will need the LFC cascadeto be designed for these airframe imperfections, so that the LFC cascadecan create Laminar flow in the areas downstream of the imperfections.For example, if the immediate downstream result of a cockpit window issignificantly thicker boundary layer, the BLC/LFC system will need to bedesigned for that specific flow condition, if only in the immediate areaof the thicker boundary layer.

The benefit of greatly increased laminar flow area may be so large thataircraft performance might be high enough that WIP is not needed and theBLC air is not re-accelerated to flying speed like it is in a WIPconfiguration.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, the present invention can be usedto enable much better propellers. For example, the oversized airfoilsused in the larger Solar HALE aircraft on the right in FIG. 7 can bemade significantly more efficient by using an exemplary embodiment. Theresulting Solar HALE aircraft may have performance superior to that ofthe legacy design, which is shown on the left side of FIG. 7 .

The foregoing description and accompanying drawings illustrate theprinciples, preferred embodiments and modes of operation of theinvention. However, the invention should not be construed as beinglimited to the particular embodiments discussed above. Additionalvariations of the embodiments discussed above will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art.

Therefore, the above-described embodiments should be regarded asillustrative rather than restrictive. Accordingly, it should beappreciated that variations to those embodiments can be made by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An aircraft wing with a system for optimizingboundary layer control, comprising: an enclosing structure having aleading edge, a trailing edge, a first wing portion extending betweenthe leading edge and the trailing edge, and a second wing portionextending between the leading edge and the trailing edge and disposedopposite the first wing portion; an inner cavity defined within theenclosing structure; at least one bellows assembly disposed in the innercavity and including at least one primary bellows and at least onesecondary bellows operating in a sequentially-timed manner with theprimary bellows; wherein the at least one bellows assembly is spacedapart from inner surfaces of the leading edge, the trailing edge, thefirst wing portion, and the second wing portion so as to define a voidbetween the at least one bellows assembly and the inner surfaces; afirst boundary control inlet defined in the first wing portion and incommunication with the void; and a second boundary control inlet definedin the second wing portion and in communication with the void.
 2. Theaircraft wing of claim 1, further comprising at least one furtherboundary control inlet defined in the first wing portion and incommunication with the void.
 3. The aircraft wing of claim 1, furthercomprising a series of boundary control inlets defined in the first wingportion and in communication with the void.
 4. The aircraft wing ofclaim 2, wherein the at least one further boundary control inlet isarranged rearwardly of the first boundary control inlet and aligned, ina chordwise direction of the wing, with the first boundary controlinlet.
 5. The aircraft wing of claim 3, wherein the series of boundarycontrol inlets is arranged rearwardly of the first boundary controlinlet and aligned, in a chordwise direction of the wing, with the firstboundary control inlet; and wherein the boundary control inlets of theseries of boundary control inlets are arranged in a front-aft directionof the wing and aligned in the chordwise direction of the wing.